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4/9/18

Washington’s recent trade actions are aimed foursquare at China,
not at the EU or other trade partners. However, the aim is not to reduce
China exports to the US. The aim is a fundamental opening up of
the Chinese economy to the Washington free market liberal reforms that
China has steadfastly resisted. In a sense, it is a new version
of the Anglo-American Opium Wars of the 1840s using other means to open
China. China’s vision of its economic sovereignty is at direct odds
with that of Washington. Because of this Xi Jinping is
not about to cave in and Trump’s latest threats of escalation risk a
major destabilization of the precarious global financial system.

There exist basically two contradictory visions of the Chinese future
economy and this is what the Washington attacks are about. One is to
force China to open its economy on terms dictated by the West,
especially by US multinationals. The second vision is one put in place
during the first term of Xi Jinping aiming to transform China’s huge
economy into the world’s leading technology nation over the coming seven
years, a tall order but one Beijing takes deadly serious. It is also
integral to the vision behind Xi Jinping’s Belt Road Initiative.

Washington is determined to push China to adhere to a document it produced in 2013 together with the World Bank during the time Robert Zoellick headed it. The document, China 2030, calls for China to complete radical market reforms. It states,

“It is imperative that China … develop a market-based
system with sound foundations…while a vigorous private sector plays the
more important role of driving growth.”

The report, cosigned then by the Chinese Finance Ministry and State Council, further declared that

“China’s strategy toward the world will need to be
governed by a few key principles: open markets, fairness and equity,
mutually beneficial cooperation, global inclusiveness and sustainable development.”

Referring to the current Washington strategy of imposing import
tariffs on billions worth of Chinese products, Michael Pillsbury, a
neo-conservative former Trump Transition adviser and China expert told
the South China Morning Post,

“The endgame is that China complete its deep reforms of
its economy as laid out in the joint report,” referring to the World
Bank Zoellick China 2030 report.